I'll Be Right Here
by AlexForrest5
Summary: Short, fluffy piece about Luke bringing Noah to the hospital after they were rescued from Zac and Zoe's captivity, and their relieved reunion. A story from a few years ago that I'm now uploading here. Hope you enjoy my work - feedback is super-appreciated, including constructive criticism.


Pacing up and down the hospital corridor frantically, Luke wished there was a way he could calm himself down, but there didn't seem to be one. Now that he was no longer on survival mode, thoughts started racing through his head, a dawning comprehension of what had really been going on lately.

Once again, his impaired judgment had put people at risk. He realized it was becoming a pattern, him blaming someone and refusing to hear that they weren't the guilty party while the real perpetrator of the crimes was out there. First it was Reg's death, with Luke being utterly convinced that Elwood was the killer; in many ways, he was responsible for Elwood dying as well – if he'd kept an open mind, he might have realized Mark Vero was behind everything earlier. Now it was this, with Luke insisting that Damien was the source of all the trouble, and refusing to heed Noah's warnings about Zac and Zoey. It all came back to him being a Grimaldi, to that accursed inheritance he had never wanted. He had thought he would help people with that money, and stick it to Damien on top of everything. Instead, he had brought this horror into their lives. His actions were the reason Noah was -

_No._ Noah wasn't dead. He wouldn't die, he _couldn't_ die. It couldn't end like this. Luke shook his head to himself in an attempt to banish these unwanted thoughts. He suddenly felt light-headed, realizing that the physical and mental exhaustion from being tied up and terrified for so many hours was catching up to him. He sank into a chair on the hall and felt his eyelids drooping.

"Mr. Snyder?"

The voice jarringly awoke Luke, making him bolt upright in his seat in confusion before realizing he must have dozed off. One of the surgeons was standing there, looking at him with kind eyes.

"Uh… yes?" he rubbed at his eyes urgently. "Is there any news on Noah?"

"He's gonna be fine," she said with a slight smile, and Luke breathed such a sigh of relief that he almost slumped in his chair again. "We've managed to stabilize him. The wound was infected, but we're giving him antibodies now. He does seem to have lost a significant amount of blood, so he might need a transfusion. We'll see."

"But he's okay?" Luke asked redundantly, just wanting to be absolutely sure. The surgeon nodded. "Thank God… um, when can I see him?"

"I think he's resting right now," she explained, "But you can come in and wait for him to wake up, if you'd like."

"I definitely would… thank you, doctor." Luke offered her a grateful smile, which was all he could do not to hug the woman right there and then, really, before leaving his seat and quietly heading into Noah's room.

Noah was pale, the sight of him hooked up to various machines rather unpleasant, but Luke was relieved to note that he at least looked better than he had at the storage unit. He stepped closer to Noah before reaching to take his boyfriend's hand. He was suddenly reminded of them being in the same situation so long ago, after Col. Mayer had shot Luke, only the roles had been reversed then – Luke was the one lying in a hospital bed.

"Noah," he said quietly, "If you can hear me, I am so sorry for all of this."

"I can definitely hear you," came the mumbled reply, though Noah's eyes were still closed.

Luke grinned broadly. "Hey, you. Doctor told me you're doing good, but shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"Back there, you told me not to fall asleep, but I did," Noah offered weakly, "Not gonna make the same mistake again." After a beat, he added, "Luke, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm not the one who got shot."

Noah partially opened his eyes to smile back at his boyfriend. "Now that you mention it, that does kind of suck." Both guys snickered, before Noah's face turned more serious. "But don't go around blaming yourself."

Luke heaved a sigh. "You kept telling me we should stay away from the Wonder Twins, and I just didn't listen."

"I thought they were annoying," Noah reminded him, "I didn't think they were a couple of murdering psychopaths. Who weren't even actual twins, which is good, because that would have been even creepier."

"Well, it's not just that," Luke shook his head regretfully. "It's all this Grimaldi business… if I just hadn't taken the stupid money, none of this would have happened."

"Luke, if you hadn't, you wouldn't have started the foundation. You wouldn't have gotten to help all these people by fighting diseases and poverty and discrimination. What could be more important than that?"

Luke gave a shy smile. "Can I be selfish? _You're_ more important than that, Noah. You're the most important thing in the world to me. God, if I lost you, I don't know what I would have – "

"Hey," Noah playfully protested, "I'm not going anywhere, got it? You're stuck with me, Snyder. Or Grimaldi, or whatever you wanna call yourself…"

Luke played along with an indignant raise of the eyebrows, before laughing. "You're lucky you're on ventilation, Mayer, or I would totally shut you up by kissing you."

Noah brought Luke's hand to his lips for a gentle kiss. "Well, we'll have plenty of time for that later, won't we?"

"Oh yeah," agreed Luke easily, "But for now, you should get some rest."

With a slight nod, Noah allowed his eyes to close, his and Luke's fingers still entwined. Luke carefully laid his head on his boyfriend's shoulder, before whispering, "I'll be right here when you wake up."

- End


End file.
